The EXO-200 experiment searched for neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136Xe with a single-phase liquid xenon detector. It used an active mass of 110 kg of 80.6%-enriched liquid xenon in an ultra-low background time projection chamber with ionization and scintillation detection and readout. This paper describes the design and performance of the various support systems necessary for detector operation, including cryogenics, xenon handling, and controls. Novel features of the system were driven by the need to protect the thin-walled detector chamber containing the liquid xenon, to achieve high chemical purity of the Xe, and to maintain thermal uniformity across the detector.
High strength steel pipes internally clad with Ni superalloys are components widely used in the oil and gas industry, with distinguished application in the production of rigid steel risers. The joining of clad pipes is carried out through a girth welding process, in which the joint is totally filled with a filler material similar to the internal clad. However, depending on mechanical strength of the pipe substrate, an undermatching condition is created. Thus, a critical weaker region results in the welded joint, where loads and plastic deformations will occur preferentially. In view of this problematic, this work aims to apply an alternative approach as a method of joining clad steel pipes, whereby an overmatching condition is achieved in the joint. This technique is carried out through a double-sided weld, which enables the use of steel filler wire in the joint filling externally, preserving the internal cladding through an inside diameter weld with a CRA filler wire. A C-Mn API X-65 steel pipe, metallurgically cladded with Inconel 625 was used in the study. For joining the pipes, modern welding techniques as GMAW CCC (Controlled Short-Circuit) and GTAW with dynamic wire feeding were applied. The developments showcased weld beads with excellent surface appearance and without welding defects, fact verified by internal videoscopy and cross section macrography. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectometry (EDS) indicated low iron dilutions, around 2,7% in weight, on the internal weld bead surface. The double-sided welding methodology produces favorable conditions to reach joint properties equalization, enabling the employment of steel filler wire in joint filling, in addition to preserving the internal clad and its corrosion properties.
In this review paper, contradictions in modern livestock production as dilemmas of farm animal welfare are considered. The main dilemma concerns the question of whether extensive production in small farms is generally better than intensive production in large farms. The next dilemma relates to an intensive selection of animals and its impact on the emergence of welfare problems. Another dilemma is related to the two main interconnected problems of pig welfare in individual farrowing pens: the piglet death by crushing and the sows' movement restriction. Similarly, welfare dilemma is the paradox of parent flocks of broiler line breeding that could not be solved until the pressure for genetic advancement in production is required due to the economic efficiency. The next example of the dilemma is the widespread practice of tail docking in piglets in order to reduce the risk of tail biting. Although the tail docking is painful and may cause death, anaesthesia is usually not applied on farms. A similar example of the dilemma is debeaking in the laying hens and the occurrence of feather pecking in free rearing systems. It is important to notice the difference between the described dilemmas, where one premise opposes the other, which is essentially a conflict between the animal welfare goals and other values, such as economic, ethical and moral issues. Finally, there are also some dilemmas about the consumers' willingness to pay a higher price of products that originate from welfare friendly rearing conditions.
The aim of this research was to estimate breeding value and rank of Holstein - Friesian bulls for milk production traits. The analysis included 433 daughters of 10 bulls, calving for the first time in the period from 2007 to 2014, on 6 dairy farms of the Agricultural Corporation Belgrade AD. Fixed factors included in the model were the effects of the farm, genetic groups and calving season, and as a random factor the impact of the bull sire. The observed milk traits on the basis of which the breeding values were calculated were the milk yield (kg), the 4% fat-corrected milk yield (kg), the fat content (%), the fat yield (kg), the protein content (%) and the protein yield (kg). Sires were ranked according to abovementioned milk traits and Spearman's Rank correlation was used to determine association between the ranks of the sires. According to the breeding values calculated by using the Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) method, the sire 1676 was best ranked for the traits: milk yield (+363,88 kg), fat yield (+13,57 kg) and protein yield (+15,55 kg), relative to the average of daughters. The effect of the calving season showed a high significance (p<0.01) for the following traits: milk yield, 4% fat-corrected milk yield, fat yield and protein yield while there was no significant effect for other traits (p>0.05). Statistically very significant correlations between sire estimated breeding values for fat content and the protein content of 0,84 (p <0,01) and between the fat yield and the protein yield of 0,96 (p<0,01) was determined by the Spearman coefficient of correlation.
On the territory of the Mačva and Braničevo region, reproductive properties for 1902 litters were monitored in 6 pig genotypes: Swedish Landrace (SL), Large White (LW) and crosses - SL x LW, LW x SL, German Landrace (GL) x LW and LW x GL. The following parameters were observed: number of live-born piglets in the litter, number of stillborn piglets in the litter, number of piglets reared per litter, duration of lactation (days), and litter mass at weaning (kg). All sows were reared on medium size and large farms (from 20 to 120 sows). The highest number of live-born piglets was determined for LW genotype (12.39), as well as the highest number of piglets reared per litter (11.32), while the highest number of stillborn piglets was found in sows SL x LW and GL x LW (0.50). The lactation duration was the highest in genotype LW x SL (34 days), while the greatest mass of the litter was determined in sows of the LW genotype - 93.42kg. Observing the region as a factor, it was found that all investigated parameters vary statistically significant (P<0.01), except for the mass of the litter at weaning. The Braničevo region had better results for the following parameters: the number of live-born piglets, the number of stillborn piglets, while the Mačva region showed a higher number of reared piglets, a shorter lactation duration with a higher mass of litter at weaning. By testing of the significance, it has been established that the breed highly statistically significantly (P<0.01) affects all the parameters tested except for the number of live-born piglets.
